That fifth beer may have seemed like a good idea at the time, but your body’s paying for it now. Hitting the booze too hard can spur a pounding headache, nausea and sensitivity to light. We’ll save the lecture on the dangers of binge drinking for later and go straight to the cures:

Sleep it off. Calling in sick once won’t hurt your career, but throwing up on the head honcho’s shoe will.

Skip the caffeine. It’s a diuretic and will dehydrate you further, prolonging your hangover.

A cup of coffee may help. A study by Kaiser Permanente researchers found drinking coffee may protect against alcoholic-caused liver cirrhosis. Our take? Have your latte, but follow it with a tall glass of water to combat the dehydrating effects.

Take a dosage of cysteine. Available in tablet or powder form, this substance neutralizes the poisonous of effects of acetaldehyde, the by-product of alcohol metabolism, which is thought to be responsible for hangovers.

Pop a multivitamin and wash it down with orange juice. Alcohol reacts chemically in your body to deplete your stores of vitamins A, B (especially B6) and C, which can intensify hangover symptoms.

Chow down on a banana. It will increase your meager post-alcohol potassium supplies. Bananas also contain a natural antacid to help fight nausea, as well as magnesium to relax blood vessels and ease a headache.

Pour some honey on that banana. The fructose will help your body metabolize the alcohol faster.

Wait it out. You won’t feel fully better until your liver has oxidized and expelled the last bit of alcohol from your body.

Also, keep your room cool, dark and quiet, and remember that for today there’s no such thing as too much water. Last of all, promise us you’ll never need to use this tip again!